Date Night With Ian

Recently, Mike and I were thinking that with all the attention that our two babies are demanding these days, that our Ian was probably overdue for a date night with just mom and dad.  Based on how excited he got when I told him our plans this morning, I think we were right!=)  He kept asking (all day) if it was time to go yet.  He called it "our special date" and he couldn't wait to go. 

After being pretty patient all day, it was finally time. I loaded Ian and the babies into the new minivan and headed over the river and through the woods to grandma and grandpa's house.  After leaving the little ones with Papa, we headed to the convenient store to pick out our movie treats.  Ian went with juice and Swedish Fish, I picked a Whatchamacallit, and Mike requested Reese's Pieces.  Then it was time to meet up with Dad for dinner.

As this was Ian's "special date", we let him pick the place.  He said he wanted "a taco/burrito from the place with the water wall",
a.k.a Costa Vida.  

This is the first picture I took.

We thought it was so funny that we had to do it again.

By this photo, we were all smiling=)

Next up, the "big movies" to see "The Lorax".
Ian was so good and loved the movie.

Mommy and her sweet boy

I love this picture that Mikey took!

We all had such a good time! 
We enjoyed some much needed alone time and hope to be able to do it again very soon.

(And I even got Ian to kiss me at the end of our special date.   
Success indeed!!!!)

Sick Day

My Three Boys

Small, Medium and Large

If there is one thing I have learned in my short tenure as a mother, it is that no matter what I think or do, God has a definite plan for me and He is helping it to unravel precisely the way it has always been meant to.  No matter what plans I make, or what I think should happen, God knows what I truly need and is making sure that it happens, regardless of the obstacles I throw in the way.

My children are a sparkling example of this.

If you had asked me ten years ago, where I would be today, I most certainly would NOT have told you that I would be up to my eyeballs in poopy diapers, with three kids three and under.  But there is absolutely nowhere else that is a more perfect or more cherished place
for me to be.

I would never have imagined that a precious, brown skinned, brown eyed, tiny miracle would come into my world and weave himself into my heart so completely.  I could never have imagined how overwhelmingly powerful my love for him would be, nor how it would forever change me.  Yet he was the one who would make me a mother at the ripe old age
(in Utah=) of thirty one.  He was the one chosen and meant to welcome me into motherhood all along.  (And man...he was oh so worth the wait!)

My Ian was meant to be my first baby and there was a reason that he came to me first.  He was the one I needed, to heal the painful cracks and gaps in my soul and prepare my heart for all the boys that would follow.   He was also meant to be the BIG brother in our family, a role that he flourishes in!  Watching the tender way in which he plays with his little brothers, and the adoration in their eyes as they stare at him in awe is something that will probably always bring me to my knees!

This smile is the reason I was born!

Too much partying!

His favorite...chocolate doughnuts!

I even make eating cereal look good!

Tea time with Daddy

Oh, the things I am going to teach you, little Brother!

Running with Daddy

This is what he does while I am getting ready=)

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!

I also never would have been able to predict that I would be fighting a court battle, for the SECOND time, to win the parental rights to a child that, although not born to me, was meant for me just as much as the first child I fought for.  I made a promise to Ian, before we ever even brought him home from the hospital, that he would never have to fight alone again.  As long as there was a breath in my body, I would fight for him.  I would take the pain and hurt and carry it for him.  And I mean the exact same thing for my Mason.  The minute he came back into my arms in February, the gloves came off and I vowed that I would fight for him too with everything I have.

I never would have imagined that two sweet boys, born to two different women, yet who look so alike and who have absolutely adored each other from the first moment they met, would only become brothers because Mike and I created the family they were meant to join and we went looking for them both.  These two boys, and the bond they share, is one of the most precious things I have ever witnessed!!

So happy!

Just look at the way Mason watches him...

I love you Brother!!!

Ian reading and Mason soaking it all up.

He loves his Daddy

My man Mason

He always wants to be near Ian, and the feeling is mutual=)

Going for a walk

This boy LOVES to eat!

Rockin' the faux hawk!

Definitely a Grandpa's boy!

My little man Mason is the sweetest and most loving little guy you could ever hope to meet.  I hope he stays that way forever!  He gives the best hugs, and as long as he is fed, he is always happy.  He loves his bed and never fights us to go to sleep.  In fact, he is the only child I know of who starts kicking his feet and squealing with delight when we go to put him down at night=)  He is so easy going and pleasant to be around.  His eyelashes are to die for and we just love him to pieces!

The goal in his foster care case has been changed from reunification to adoption and now we are awaiting the trial to terminate his birth mother's rights.  We should know something around the time of his first birthday (six weeks away).  I am not worried though, because I know that God has His hand in this miracle as well and what is meant to be, will happen.  Plus, I am not giving him back, so he isn't going anywhere!!!=)

Many years ago, I also would have had no idea that the last baby I was to be blessed with, would yet again be one that was not born to me, but unlike his older brothers, would look like he could have been.  He would be the only one whose birth mother chose us to be his family, and he would be the fastest, and relatively easiest one to join our little clan.  Just as Ian was meant to be my first baby, there is also a definite reason why my baby Logan was meant to be the little brother in our home.  At the tender age of two months, he is proving to be the most difficult of my three boys, and had he come to us first, we might have been a one child family=)  Don't get me wrong, I love this little guy to no end, and there is no denying the miracles that took place in us finding each other.  I know, without a doubt, that he was meant to be part of our family, just like the other two, but he already has a little temper on him and can make my stress level go through the roof in mere seconds!!  He is a bit colicky, and he cries WAY more than the other two ever did.  Plus, it probably doesn't bode well for him that he came third, and at a time when our lives were crazy and hectic and we just didn't have the time to sit and hold him all day.  But even with his screaming fits, there are so many sweet, and tender moments that I cherish with this sweet baby boy and I am so grateful he came to round out our little family.  His big blue eyes and his precious little smile can make all the stress just disappear.  He has proven to me, once again, that God has a plan for me, even when I can't see it!

Nothing like some Grandma love

Uncle David

Aunt Hollie

Watcha doin' Brother?

Date night with just me and my smallest guy=)

At our house?  YES THEY DO!!!

Talking to Daddy

I love this pic!  It's like he's just had it and can't take one more thing=)

He loves his mobile

Cool dude!

I just love this smile!

Even at such young ages, it is so fun for me to see how different and unique each of my three boys are.  They were each meant to bring something special to our family and I am so grateful for each of them.  They are each carving a special and unique place in my heart.

Yes, it is so incredibly hard some days to care for these three little guys, and some days I want to pull my hair out and run away for a day or two.  But I would always come back, because these three little boys are the reason I was born.  They have made me into the woman I am and I am so honored to be their Mom.

CrAzY BuSy!

CrAzY BuSy!!!  

That is my life these days as a mother of three babies.

I really want to blog...honest!!!! 

I just don't have the time to do it.  And usually, I am lacking the energy and/or brain power as well. 

And on that extremely RARE of occasions when the moon and stars are all aligned and no one is crying, needing a diaper change, needing to be fed, bathed, dressed, snuggled or simply entertained, I cannot even pick up my laptop without a certain game-crazed three year old screaming, "Can I play a game on your computer?!?!?!"  Even now, as I am writing, he is typing with me and I am having to delete every other sentence and start over.  Ugh...

But let me just say that even though my life is crazy, I sure do love being a mom.  I never thought that I would be drenched in motherhood all at once, but I love it and I fall into bed every night grateful for the little boys who call me mommy! 

I have three of the cutest, sweetest and most wonderful boys ever put on this earth, and even though I am seriously doubting if I will make it through the next twenty years with even half of my sanity intact, I am overwhelmingly humbled to have been the one chosen to care for these three angel boys.

So, even though I won't be able to update this as much as I would hope to, and I may be much more grey the next time you see me, I will do my best to at least put pictures on here once in awhile, if nothing else.

I am working on a picture update that will hopefully be up soon, but until then, here are a couple of pictures of the my three tiny boys to hold you over=)  Enjoy!

This is quite possibly, my favorite picture of all time!  Look at how much little Mason loves his big brother.  My heart melts every time I see it!

And this little face...Oh, I just love him!!!